Photo by Pessega — Some Rights Reserved

You work in sales. You might not know it, but if you work in the arts, you work in sales.

So, here’s a quick professional pop quiz. Which of the two slogans would be the best choice to sell potential ticket buyers on a show?

1. “Laugh Sensation of Two Continents” or,
2. “I respectfully suggest that those who come to the theater for casual entertainment do not buy a ticket to this attraction.”

The first was used by Michael Myerberg to sell the US premiere of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Even with Bert Lahr’s talent for comedy, and his lack of ability to remember Beckett’s words, there were not many laughs, let alone a sensation.

For the New York production, Myerberg changed his approach. Now billed as a show that only the discerning intellectual could possibly enjoy, the snob factor worked.

(Of course, this was a time of pre-Paris, pre-Britney, pre-Bush; back then it was smart to be smart and not smart to be dumb.)

These days it is hard to sell anything, let alone a one hundred dollar ticket to watch a couple of tramps trade quips, along with their recognition of the futility of existence.

With new productions of Godot playing in London and New York, we need to collect those slogans, posters, and campaigns that help sell theatre.

For inspiration…

Charles Dickens: “It is a hopeless endeavour to attract people to a theatre unless they can be first brought to believe that they will never get in.”

Will Rogers: “The theater is a great equalizer: it is the only place where the poor can look down on the rich.”

Peter Cook: “You know, I go to the theatre to be entertained. I don’t want to see plays about rape, sodomy and drug addiction… I can get all that at home.”

Orson Welles on why theatre works better at night: “I would just like to mention Robert Houdin who in the eighteenth century invented the vanishing birdcage trick and the theater matinee — may he rot and perish. Good afternoon.”

Agnes de Mille on selling in America: “Theater people are always pining and agonizing because they’re afraid that they’ll be forgotten. And in America they’re quite right. They will be.”

For the most current, and maybe the most accurate statement on what takes place inside a theatre — Tracy Letts: “A normal person is just someone you don’t know real well.”

- Bill Reichblum

Photo by Richard O. Barry — Some Rights Reserved

As the arts begin to capture our time of economic, religious, and political confusion, perhaps it is time to remember the rules of the game.

Specifically, Jean Renoir’s 1939 film, La Règle du Jeu. Renoir reveals how the world really works, for better or worse; and, what it costs an artist to be the voice of revelation.

In 1962, Renoir provided a filmed introduction to La Règle du Jeu (translated here from The Criterion Collection’s box set of the film, commentary, and specials):

I am very pleased to talk about The Rules of the Game because of all the movies I’ve made, it was clearly the biggest failure.

When The Rules of the Game first came out, it was a great blow. I’ve received a few blows in my life, but never one like that. It was complete and resounding.

One day not too long ago, I was introducing The Rules of the Game for an audience of young people at a school in New York. Some of these young people had heard about The Rules of the Game and about the reception it encountered in Paris. One of them asked me, “Could you tell me, Mr. Renoir, why this movie is considered ‘controversial’?” (I’m using the English word “controversial”, which I’m translating poorly into French.) I answered him, “This movie could be considered controversial for the following reason: At the movie’s premiere at the Colisée, I saw one gentleman in the audience very solemnly unfold a newspaper, take out a matchbox, strike a match and light the newspaper with the obvious intention of setting the room on fire. I think any movie that provokes a reaction like that is controversial.”

I made this “controversial” movie in 1938-39. In no way was it my intention to make a controversial film. It was not at all my intention to shock the bourgeoisie. I just wanted to make a movie, even a pleasant movie, but a pleasant movie that would at the same time function as a critique of a society I considered rotten to the core and which I still consider rotten to the core. Because this society continues in its rottenness and is leading us towards some fine little catastrophes.

That being said, in The Rules of the Game, since I wanted the movie to be pleasant, I found inspiration in an author who is a delightful person — someone it’s impossible not to like on a very basic level. I was inspired by Musset and The Moods of Marianne. But very loosely. The resemblance is quite tenuous. But there is something reminiscent of The Moods of Marianne in my plot. You always need a springboard, and mine was The Moods of Marianne. The Rules of the Game also arose out of my desire to return to the classical spirit, to leave behind La Bête Humaine and naturalism and even Flaubert. A desire to return to Marivaux, Beaumarchais and Molière. It’s very ambitious, but I’d like to point out, my dear friends, “When choosing masters, it’s best to choose a plump one.”

It doesn’t mean you’re comparing yourself to them. It simply means you’re trying to learn something from them.

I accompanied this attempt to create a classical work with classical music. I had it performed in something of a Commedia dell’Arte fashion — in the fashion of a pantomime. In it I placed some extremely simple characters but who, quite simply, carry their ideas through to their conclusion, who go as far as the development of their thought takes them.

They are frank characters. The portrait of this society, even though it may be a society in decline, makes us love it, at least I hope. Because this society has at least one advantage: It wears no mask.
When The Rules of the Game was presented in 1939 at the Colisée — I told you the story of the gentleman with his newspaper, and a number of people wanted to smash their seats. I went to see this screening, and let me tell you it tears your heart out. You can say you don’t care, but it’s not true — you do care. It’s very upsetting to hear people whistle and hurl insults at you. I was roundly attacked for The Rules of the Game. Oh well. That’s all in the past. And besides, incidentally, I was recently rewarded for it. But the moment hasn’t come to speak of that yet.

What I do want to tell you is that because of the catcalls that tore my heart open, I made many cuts. And that’s why a full and complete version of The Rules of the Game no longer exists. There’s one version left, and I hope that’s the one you’ll see, which is almost complete. It’s been reconstructed through the careful efforts of film technicians who were able to find the negatives, develop them and make a complete copy. In short, they reconstructed the movie. Only one scene is missing from this version, but it’s not important. It’s a scene in which I appear with Roland Toutain and which deals with the sexual exploits of the maids. As you can see, that isn’t a primary theme.

I mentioned that I was rewarded at a later date. In fact, I was in Venice three years ago. The Venice Festival people had the very generous idea of showing this complete version, which had just been reconstructed, in their large theatre one afternoon. I went there, and I was pleased to see a very full house. People were standing or sitting on the steps. These people applauded quite a bit and were very nice. It felt a bit like payback for the insults of 1939.

From Renoir’s inspiration, find the humor and strip away the masks. Here’s looking forward to the next artistic work that reveals our time.

- Bill Reichblum

Michael Johnson-Chase is a former theatre professor, international program director at the Lark Play Development Center, producer and writer. After a stint as a solar installer, he is currently developing Green Collar Job training programs at Solar One, an environmentally focused arts and education center in NYC soon to feature New York City’s first net zero carbon classroom and performance facility.

In this interview, Michael talks with us about how he came to be involved in Green technologies, the potential for social change and new narratives at the intersection of the arts and environmentally sound design, and the plans for New York’s first net-zero carbon building.

Note: Michael has requested that we correct a misstatement in this interview: at 14:45, the ARRA 2009 funding mentioned as being available for weatherization is incorrect — the correct sum is five billion dollars.

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Photo by Alex de Carvalho — Some Rights Reserved

Do you believe the economy is in the toilet, newspapers are dying, and the music industry‘s future is selling cds as coasters?

It doesn’t have to be that way: the economy will turn around; newspapers could find a better model; and, the music industry might be finally waking up to digital possibilities. This is possible if we listen to Mark Cuban.

Cuban, the NBA’s best owner and co-founder of HDNet, Broadcast.com, and MicroSolutions, has always been quick to see both a trend and those who stand in the way of an opportunity — for business, sports, and the arts.

In a recent blog post, Cuban takes the newspaper and music industries to task for holding onto the least viable aspects of their businesses. He is so dead on target; those of us in live performing arts should take note of a line in his post:

I think people are choosing out of home entertainment… they are choosing inexpensive out of home entertainment.   If it costs less than $10 per person and it’s outside the house, it’s probably a business that is doing well. From movies to restaurants.

This week in KArts Culture News, we posted a story from Billboard noting that the festival business is, in fact, doing well.

This can hold true for the near future as long as festivals honor Cuban’s strategy:

1) Provide Bang-for-the-Buck Entertainment
2) Pay attention to Your Price Point
3) Stay True to Your Mission

Provide Bang-for-the-Buck Entertainment: Festivals thrive when they offer an individual, a dating couple, or a family all encompassing events that allow audiences to reconnect with known artists, discover new ones, and find joy in being together. The way for festivals to beat the megalith one artist performance tour is to make sure to create a full festival experience: from the acts onstage, to the food, to the people standing next to you. It’s about a live art vibe. It’s about a multi-layered event. This turns art from a show to a destination.

Pay attention to Your Price Point: Pretend you have a teenager or a college age kid. They come to you to borrow money so that they can go do something with their friends. In addition to the event cost, they also want money for gas, food, and just a little extra in case of an emergency. If the parent adds up these costs and thinks it makes sense, you are at the right price point. If it’s more than the cost of a good suit for their first job interview, then the cost is too high.

Stay True to Your Mission: Remember when newspapers used to report only the news? They hired really smart people, who would travel to really distant places, get to know really key players, and write really well about what was taking place. Today, it seems as though only a quarter of a newspaper has real news. The rest is devoted to eating, shopping, and style. It doesn’t matter if it’s on paper or online. Give me something I can’t get elsewhere. The reason newspapers are dying is that they have strayed from their core mission: to provide in depth reporting of the news. Festivals thrive when they, too, stay true to their core mission, and give me something I can’t get elsewhere.

Listen to Mark Cuban. Live entertainment has no need to fear at-home entertainment; it only has to fear trying too hard to copy industries that are no longer useful.

- Bill Reichblum

Dmitri Vietze is the founder of rockpaperscissors, a publicity and marketing firm emphasizing music of global significance. He was also one of the music scene professionals involved in starting up the North American World Music Coalition, which provides a forum for the advocacy, public awareness, and economic viability of world music in all its forms. He writes about World Music in his blog, DubMC.

In this podcast Dmitri talks about the changing landscape of promoting artists, how he helps artists tell their stories, and where he goes to see great live performances.

This interview is part of an ongoing series with the Association of Performing Arts Presenters.

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